Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has set aside a further 334 million pounds ($515 million) to settle with US authorities after they investigated several banks for alleged foreign exchange manipulation.

The bank has set aside £176m for legal costs and £100m in extra PPI charges. The bank said that operating expenses would total £856 million of litigation and conduct charges. It also included charges related to mortgage- backed securities and investigations in the United States.

RBS is in advanced discussions over the settlement and expected that it would settle before the end of June.

Ross McEwan, the chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland has said that the financial giant will be able to adapt itself to the changes if votes chose to make Scotland an independent nation during this year's referendum.

McEwan said, "It's really important that the Scottish people get the opportunity to vote, and then if I need to adapt my business to serve England, Scotland, Wales and both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, then I will."

TheRoyal Bank of Scotland is expected to record high losses as it is being forced to set aside funds to meet legal costs.

The bank is being forced to set aside millions of dollars to cover legal and regulatory costs for mis-selling thousands of policies. The RBS has set aside £3 billion to cover expected costs from legal actions in the country. RBS is now on course to lose around £8billion this year, which is its biggest deficit since£24billion loss recorded more than five years earlier.

The Royal Bank of Scotland has said that it has agreed to pay $100 million for breaching US sanctions against transactions with Iran, Sudan, Burma and Cuba.

UK's banking giant entered into an agreement with the US Federal Reserve, the US Treasury Department and the New York State Department of Financial Services for a settlement. RBS has said that it acknowledges and deeply regrets its involvement. The bank also said that it has committed about $490 million since 2010 to improve its sanctions controls across the international institutions.

British markets' regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority has said that it has launched an investigation into allegations that the Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc forced small firms to collapse I order to acquire their assets at lower value.

Besides the recently launchedSerious Fraud Office's inquiry, the state-run Royal Bank of Scotland will also face an investigation by City of London Police over allegations that it forced small businesses to collapse in order to acquire assets at lower prices.

It is believed that strong evidence has been found against RBS dating back to 2008, relating to the behaviour that led to collapse of several smaller firms.

The RoyalBank of Scotland is facing new criticism that it might have forced some of the smaller firms in the country to collapse in order to acquire their assets at very low prices. The evidence has been presented to the ministers against the banking giant.

The RoyalBank of Scotland is facing new criticism that it might have forced some of the smaller firms in the country to collapse in order to acquire their assets at very low prices.

Businessman Lawrence Tomlinson, who is the entrepreneur in residence at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, has accused RBS of intentionally forcing some small firms to collapse in order to benefit from the opportunity of acquiring their assets at much lower prices. Mr Tomlinson wrote in a report that he has found evidence against the state-run bank.

It is believed that the Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC are set to be fined for playing a role in rigging the benchmark interest rates in the Eurozone.

Regulators in the European Union are looking to set the blame on six global banking giants for playing a part in the scandal. The latest fines will be relating to the rigging of the Euribor rate, which is a benchmark used as the basis for pricing _250 trillion of financial contracts from mortgages to derivatives.

Amid a new investigation into manipulation of the foreign currency market, several traders at Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland were suspended by the managements of the banks.

A total of six traders at Barclays and two at RBS are now suspended after investigations form several international investigators including UK's Financial Conduct Authority. The two banks have not offered any comments on the matter. JP Morgan, Standard Chartered and Citigroup had earlier placed its senior traders in London on leave. Regulators in the United States, Europe and Asia are investigating the case.

The government in the UK is set to announce more details relating to its plans to split the bank into separate entities.

Ross McEwan, the chief executive of the bank asked the staff to brace themselves as a decision is expected to be taken soon on the matter. He said that whatever plans are implemented, the staff members should focus on the customers and not on speculations surrounding the bank. He wrote an email directly to around 400 senior staff and posted on the bank's intranet for its 120,000 employees around the world.

The Royal Bank of Scotland is preparing its staff members in the UK to prepare for the government's plans to split up the bank into a good bank and a bad bank with toxic assets.

Ross McEwan, the chief executive of the bank asked the staff to brace themselves as a decision is expected to be taken soon on the matter. He said that whatever plans are implemented, the staff members should focus on the customers and not on speculations surrounding the bank. He wrote an email directly to around 400 senior staff and posted on the bank's intranet for its 120,000 employees around the world.

W&G Investments, which is an investment vehicle of former Tesco finance director Andy Higginsonand backed by Schroders, Threadneedle and Old Mutual, has asked the Royal Bank of Scotland to finalise a deal on sale of branches soon.

W&G Investments, representing a group of City investors, which is aiming to acquire 315 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland, will receive £55m in annual interest payments from the state-controlled lender ahead of the completion of the deal.

Global credit ratings agency, Fitch has said that the plans to break up the Royal Bank of Scotland into separate entities would be an expensive mistake and leave taxpayers in a worse condition.

The agency said that the plans to split the bank into a good and a bad bank and selling the good bank would leave the government with more toxic assets and increase the national debt burden. The move would create uncertainty for investors and also dilute the government's holdings in the bank. The plans might also require an approval from the minority shareholders.

Independent investors have expressed their concerns over the plans to break up the Royal Bank of Scotland to the chairman Sir Philip Hampton.

Sir Hampton has said that only independent minority shareholders will be able to vote on plans to split the bank into separate entities. He added that the bank would take legal advice but pointed out that he believes that the government will not be able to use its 81 per cent holding in the bank to vote on the matter.

The Royal Bank of Scotland might be planning to promote Ross McEwan to the post of the chief executive, according to a person closer to the matter.

The RBS needs an approval from the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority and the government to confirm the appointment. There are indications that McEwan might be promoted within the coming days to take over the bank at time when the government is aiming to divest its stake in the institution.

The parliamentary commission on banking standards has said that there should be a comprehensive review of the structure of Royal Bank of Scotland after the government officials indicated that the selling of stake in RBS will take some time.

The government has dismissed the need for a broad investigation to determine if the RBS should be split and sold as smaller components to increase competition in the banking sector. The government has against said that the breaking up of the bank into smaller units would generate significant additional costs.

The authorities in the UK might appoint Rothschild as an advisor on a proposal to break up the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, which is the largest state-owned lender in the country.

According to a media report that cited people closer to the matter, the appointment of Rothschild might be announced this week. Rothschild will begin a review of the bank and will conclude the process by September. The breakup will of the bank will allow the independent entities to adop steps to revive tis operations.

The authorities in the UK have invited banks to submit their bids as advisers for its plans to privatise state-backed Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Chancellor George Osborne has indicated that the government will soon start selling its holding in the Lloyds Banking Group. It is not know as to how much of the Government's 39 per cent stake in the bank will be sold. Some suggest that the government might sell 10 per cent stake, which is valued at about £17 billion, in the bank within this year.